Report: Holder ‘Sold’ on Gottlieb, Others Were Not

A recent report by the Franchise radio host Lauren Rew states that it was not athletic director Mike Holder, but rather the other people in the room, who wanted to hire current Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton over radio personality and OSU alumnus Doug Gottlieb in last week’s coaching search.

Co-host @Lauren_Rew's sources: Mike Holder was "sold on @GottliebShow" but others in room couldn't get past lack of experience.#OKState

— John E. Hoover (@johnehoover) March 27, 2017

Holder, President Hargis, three regents and one athletic department rep.

— John E. Hoover (@johnehoover) March 27, 2017

The others in the room — OSU President Burns Hargis, four regents and an associate AD — were apparently set on someone with more experience, although not necessarily head coaching experience.

They settled on Mike Boynton, who reportedly won them over with an excellent interview.

Mike Boynton is OSU's next basketball coach. I'm told he knocked his interview out of the park. Good chance to retain players and recruits

— John Helsley (@jjhelsley) March 24, 2017

This is just a report, and it could be that some folks are just trying to ease the pressure on Holder. In fact, John Helsely of the Oklahoman claimed that he had a dissenting report.

Not my intel at all https://t.co/uFak2ll2Sc

— John Helsley (@jjhelsley) March 27, 2017

Still, if true, this shifts the previous narrative that it was Holder who didn’t want Gottlieb as head coach.

Gottlieb recently talked about the situation on the Dan Patrick Show, and he pointed out that not only did his lack of experience hurt him, but those in the room were also also looking for someone who would retain the team in its current state.

“They decided that retention of current staff and retention of players was the most important thing,” Gottlieb said. “Apparently Mike Boynton went in and wowed them and I did not … the feedback I got from Mike Holder the athletic director was ‘I felt like I couldn’t hire somebody who had coached before.'”

In the interview, Gottlieb went on to list the people that he would bring on staff to help him transition if he were to get the job. That list included Gottlieb’s brother and current Oregon State assistant coach, Gregg, current ESPN analyst Miles Simon, and former college head coach and current Boston Celtics scout Todd Lickliter, among others.

He also said that they were in close contact with a number of graduate transfers who would be possibly willing to come to OSU.

Doug Gottlieb talks about what happened with the Oklahoma State coaching job https://t.co/fl18vLxG3Z pic.twitter.com/otIMixYQMs

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 27, 2017

Social media soon reacted to Gottlieb’s list of assistant coaches:

Doug Gottlieb posted on his Facebook today that Todd Lickliter had agreed to be on his staff at Oklahoma State. That would have been epic.

— Brent Blum (@brentblum) March 26, 2017

Gottlieb would have had a pretty good staff at #OKState https://t.co/7WGtnsxTCv

— Ryan Stone (@RyanStoneSports) March 27, 2017

As an OU fan, I am so happy OSU didn't hire @GottliebShow. That staff and game plan he had ready to roll would've not been ideal for OU. https://t.co/BkpXu2sjNp

— Gabe Ikard (@GabeIkard) March 27, 2017

Gottlieb now takes the position of radio host and basketball analyst for Fox Sports Radio and Fox Sports One.